One year's seeding: a seedbank approach to sustainable weed management

One year's seeding: a seedbank approach to sustainable weed management

Summary

To fulfill the lack of information available on sustainable weed management the extension bulletin “Integrated Weed Management ‘One Year’s Seeding…’” (IWM) was released in February 2005 as the result of a collaborative effort of researchers, extension educators, and producers. Since then over 2,000 copies have been sold, several workshops have been held to present the information to North Central Region farmers, and fifteen on-farm trials have been conducted (seven in 2006 and eights in 2007) to test some of the weed management methods published. Thus far, information we have collected from growers indicates that these activities have increased their knowledge of the diversity of weed management techniques.

Objectives/Performance Targets

This project addresses the lack of practical information on sustainable weed management by engaging farmers and land-grant professionals in a continuous improvement process. A decision support manual for ecological weed management (Integrated Weed Management: One year's seeding... E-2931 Michigan State University Extension bulletin) will be presented to farmers, farmers will be asked to use and evaluate the manual, and the manual will be revised according to farmer feedback.

In the short-term, over 400 producers and extension agents will learn to use a practical manual for sustainable weed seedbank management at workshops in MI, IN, OH, IA, MN, and WI. The manual will help farmers manage the whole weed life cycle, rather than focus on the seedling stage only.

In the intermediate-term, up to 70 producer-evaluators (PE's) in five states will use the manual to help them manage weeds on their farms and record impacts on their operations. Over 50% of the PE's will diversify their approach to weed management as a result of using the manual. Eight on-farm trials will explore new management options for reducing weed seedbanks through sustainable practices. At least 30 PE's will evaluate on-farm trials and share results of their own field-tests. Feedback from producer workshops and PE's who use the manual on their own farms, in addition to results of on-farm trials, will be used to improve the first edition of the Integrated Weed Management Guide.

In the long term, this project will give farmers practical alternatives to over-reliance on herbicide resistant crops and chemically intensive post emergence weed control. The rapid loss of hard-won farmer knowledge of integrated weed management will be slowed, or even reversed, as farmers are engaged in the process of making practical knowledge available for their neighbors and for future farmers. Stronger partnerships between farmers and university personnel will be formed, with better correspondence between farmer needs and researcher activities, resulting in a sustainable agriculture that gains its strength from both human relationships and scientific understanding.

Accomplishments/Milestones

The original 2,000 copies of the IWM bulletin were all sold. In May of 2007 1,500 more copies were reprinted. Copies of the IWM bulletin have reached beyond the North Central Region, spanning from Wyoming to Delaware and into three provinces in Canada.

To meet our intermediate project goal, in 2006 we sent out 110 evaluations to growers who both attended a workshop and purchased the bulletin. Through these extensive, 21 page evaluations we collected information on improvements that could be made the IWM bulletin. Overall, the evaluation of the IWM bulletin has shown it is an excellent resource; however, there are still several areas where survey participants thought it could be expanded. Evaluators suggested a ‘Part II’ or ‘Supplement’ to the IWM bulletin, to complement what they currently are using as a reference. In 2007 we obtained funding though the Integrated Organic Program to produce a supplemental bulletin. In this supplement we will be addressing the following areas.

-Manure/compost: effects on weed seed fate, the potential spread of new weeds, weed species shifts, and the potential for increased weed competitiveness
-Cover crops: positive and negative attributes on weed management, cost/benefit analysis, positive and negative attributes of various covers, seeding rates, planting dates, potential options for no-till production, nitrogen availability for crops and weeds, and implementation into various crop rotations
-Economic thresholds for individual weeds and weed complexes
-Complex crop rotations for organic growers
-Intercropping/living mulches: how they work, in what situations they work, planting dates, costs versus benefits, harvesting issues
-Thermal weed management: flaming (how and when), cost effectiveness, what weeds are controlled at what stages, best conditions, plastic mulches
-Organic farmer profiles: in-depth look at how various organic growers approach successful weed management
-Weed profiles: beyond the “Dirty Dozen from the original IWM bulletin

Another intermediate goal of this project was to hold on-farm, grower-designed trials to test some of the weed management strategies mentioned in the bulletin. For the 2007 growing season we were able to fund eight successful on-farm trials. Four of these trials were in Michigan, 2 in Iowa, 1 in Illinois, and 1 in Wisconsin. Projects titles included:

-Flaming and rotary hoeing in soybeans (Alma, MI) and corn (Panora, IA)
-Intercropping for weed control in corn (Alma, MI)
-Cultivator comparisons for weed management (Schoolcraft, MI)
-Intercropping with buckwheat and oats in open-pollinated corn (North Branch, MI)
-Effect of molasses + calcium spray in combination with a rotary hoe on weed control in organic soybean (Saukville, WI)
-Ridge tillage versus conventional tillage in early and late planted soybean (Harlan, IA)
-Weed management in organic tomatoes using mulches (Urbana, IL)

The results of the flaming trials were presented at the North Central Weed Science Society annual meeting in St. Louis, MO in December 2007. The results of all of the on-farm trials from 2006 and 2007 will be published in the new supplement in 2008 and also will be made available on the web through the New Agriculture Network and MSUweed.com.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

In 2007, feedback we received from the on-farm trials and meeting presentation have increased awareness and implementation of sustainable weed control options in the North Central Region. This trend will continue with the publication of our new supplement in 2008.